To The End
by CrimsonAngel1992
Summary: What if the games were a means to hide the truth...what if the truth was under our noses. This is about Victoria, a 1st LT in the US Army, who faces this possibility. She is assigned to a team with Chris, Leon, Jill, Sheva, and Carlos, a team that is fighting a hidden war against an enemy thought to be only fiction. their mission to end the threat that Umbrella started. L/OC,J/C
1. Prologue

_Summary:_

_What if the games were a means to hide the truth...what if the truth was under our noses. This is about Victoria, a 1st LT in the US Army, who faces this possibility. She is assigned to a team with Chris, Leon, Jill, Sheva, and Carlos, a team that is fighting a hidden war against an enemy thought to be only fiction. their mission to end the threat that Umbrella started. L/OC,J/C_

_A/N: I hope to get this story out in a timely manner. It is something I have worked on for a while and I will space it out. The story is something that I hope everyone will like, it is more mature and will be more planned out. So please let me know what is on your minds if there is something you catch that doesn't make sense and if you have any questions I will be happy to answer._

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_It's dark, why is it dark? Am I blind? Sounds…..footsteps. are there others? Who, who is it? It wasn't supposed to happen, it was an in and out job. Go in find out why no one has heard from the American embassy for two weeks and get out. How did this nightmare start? Where did these monsters come from?_

Groaning coming from disfigured creatures caught the young soldier off guard; lights flickered on and off it seemed the generator is losing power. She was alone and hurt. Her side burned with a deep laceration, she had at least a couple broken ribs and a nice egg on her head that gave her the mother of all headaches. She was stumbling through her ruined mission trying to salvage what little of it that could be. Her team dead she was the only survivor of her five man team. With her gun ready she checked around the corner. The embassy was in ruins, blood covered the walls bodies littered the floor. It was a gruesome sight for the young soldier. It was her first time leading a mission of the importance, and she blew it. Well, more like it got blown up in her face the moment that rocket hit her helicopter. God damn, Barnett, he pushed her out of the helicopter saving her from the same fate her team suffered; God, the screams of her men as they burned in the wreckage of the helicopter. With only a M16 with four mags, and a handgun with two, she knew she was in deep. It has been five hours since they helicopter was hit, and they were to check in within three hours of arriving. Someone by know must know shit hit the fan. No one she has come across has been alive…or human.

Two of the creatures burst out of a room further down the corridor. She froze…no, she couldn't shoot them. No. that would draw more in, and then she would be not just fucked, but royally fucked. One raised its head; it looked to be sniffing the air. She held her breath, as if that would stop the creature from catching her. The creature's glazed eyes locked on to hers. She cursed, it spotted her. She turned down the hall she was previously peering into. It led to the ambassador's office. She hoped to get a line through to her higher ups, and hoped they could get her the fuck out of here.

There are too many of these creatures…these zombies, there is no other way to describe them; but it can't be real, zombies are just movie magic. The irony of the situation is, she loves…no make that loved zombie movies. She would laugh at whenever someone would do something stupid and get turned. They were never scary…until now. The movies could never express the real horror of an event such as this. For one the smell, the God awful smell that engulfed the area, was enough to almost make her pass out at times. The hopelessness when you looked into the eye, the helplessness when you are facing these creatures alone. No, the young soldier steeled herself. She is not hopeless, nor is she helpless, and by god if she dies in this mess she is at least making sure every god damn last creature dies with her.

One, two, three doors, from the blue prints of the embassy after the next door take a right down the hall and the office should be a double door at the end of it. Once there she prayed, like never before, that the power will hold out until she can call out.

A hand reaches out of the darkness and grabs onto her hair. A groan alerted her to what the hand belonged to. She quickly dropped her weight, kicked her leg back into the thing's knees crippling it, but far from stopping it. The creature groaned as it swiped for her and crawled towards her.

"Grr, die you disgusting mother fucker." She drew her leg back and released a powerful kick to the thing's head, snapping it back at an awkward angle. Thing still kept crawling, and she lifted her foot and crushed the skull. Panting, she tried to quell her unsettle stomach at the sight of the crushed skull and brains now covering the floor and her boots. Her efforts were in vain, however, as the nonexistent contents of her stomach came back up. The nauseating feeling did not go away as she stepped from the horrifying mess. If she survived this, she will have nightmares for the rest of her life. Turning down the hall towards the office, she avoided contact with any more creatures.

Seeing the double doors she sighed in relieve, but caught her breath when she saw they were open a crack. She inched closer to the double doors and listened inside.

"Is everything is going to plan?" A deep unsettling voice penetrated from the office.

"O-o-of course, Master. N-nothing out of place." A weakly voice stuttered.

"Really?" the deep voice asked. A hand reached from within and grabbed her neck through the cracked door. "Then why is this pretty little thing still alive." The owner of said crushing hand licked the side of her face.

"Let me go." She said surprisingly calm for her nerves were shot.

"You know I can't do that." The deep voice belonged to a rather good looking male. His messy white blond hair fell in front of sunglasses that covered his eyes. He was tall and she could feel the horrifying danger radiating off of him. She shuddered in revulsion. It was him that caused this, and he was proud of it, she could hear it in his voice.

"Such a sad ending; for a pretty little thing like you." He said. She started to struggle in his grip, but as she did his grip got tighter and the world got narrower.

Suddenly the doors banged open. "Andre…" A deep, but comforting voice, bit out. Black filled her vision and white noise filled her ears, like an old phone breaking up. "...get away with this"

"…do you think …can stop …I won't ….it's not over." the man holding her laughed as he moved her in between him and the other man, using her as a body shield "…hurt her." The young soldier could feel anger and frustration fill her, getting her adrenaline pumping. He was using her, no one used her. With a shaky hand she reached to her belt and pulled a small thin knife, she then gathered what strength she could and swiped the knife at his face, catching him from his left cheek to his right temple. The man, Andre, growled inhumanly as he squeezed her neck harder and tossed her head first into the wall.

Through blurry vision she saw the other man, the one with the comforting voice, raise his gun and shoot. Her vision faded out, only to come back to the most gorgeous blue eyes. She smiled. "You my guardian angel? Come to take me home?" she croaked. Her throat hurt so much. A sad smile touched his lips.

"I am far from an angel, but I am taking you home." Her world went black.

Opening her eyes she woke to a starch white room, she could hear a very annoying beeping in the background. Confusion filled her, where was she, what happened? Why couldn't she remember? Going through what she remembered, the last thing was stepping onto the helicopter heading to what was supposed to be an easy mission. Nothing, there was a blank space after that. Movement caught her attention as a large man in uniform entered the room.

"wha.." the word stopped, her throat hurt so much, it was difficult to speak. There was a grim expression on his face as he looked down at her.

"I'm sorry, there was a horrible accident." She knew then and there, her men were dead, and she somehow survived. The look in the older man's eyes told it all. She couldn't hear what else he was telling her, tears clouded her vision and her focus faded in an out. Before succumbing to unconsciousness she heard the man say "…never remember. I'm sorry Lieutenant"


	2. The Chase

_A/N: here is the first chapter, it was an experiment in how I wrote it. I had fun with and hopefully you will to reading it. now there are introductions to who is who. _

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_Thump, _two dark tennis shoes hit the concrete of a busy street in the middle of Washington D.C.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump _four more pairs of shoes followed quickly behind. The dark shoes – worn by a young woman – hopped over railings, dodged the many people that crowded the streets, as if it was a choreographed dance, and dived under furniture that was being carried out of a building. The eight tennis shoes behind her – worn by four men – chased the woman down, and followed her every move.

The woman reached a flight of stairs not stopping, she jumped against a wall that stood next to the stairs and pushed herself to the landing of the stairs. Continuing faster than before, the woman flipped down a ledge to the sidewalk below, and ran down to a park. The four men followed behind, not once missing a step.

The woman jumped a wall and rolled to cushion her landing. She came straight out of the roll into a dead run; jumping over gaps, off walls, and through a large tire that was hanging up. The four men behind the woman started to slow down. She reached the exit of the park and became lost in the crowd. The shortest of the group stopped and raised his fist telling the others to stop, he took a look around then pointed to each of the others and pointing them off in different directions, the others nodded and followed their leader's orders. The short one watched them disappear into the crowed before going off in another direction.

The woman, a couple blocks ahead, ran into an abandon apartment building that rose, six stories from the ground. The leader, who had caught up to her quickly, spotted her going into the building and followed her; he raised his wrist to his mouth and reported his location into the mike on his wrist. The woman made it to the roof, quickly followed by the leader.

"Stop, we have you now, there is nowhere else you can go!" the man yelled. The woman looked at him and smirked, she turned and ran toward the edge of the building, the man growled as she dived over the edge. The man quickly ran to the edge just in time to see the woman catch the edge of the fire escape of the next building and haul herself up on to it and entered the building through the window. The man cursed and brought his wrist back up to his mouth and barked orders into the microphone placed inside the watch.

Down on the street one of the remaining three men continued to chase the woman down the street. The woman looked behind her believing she had lost them and saw the other man, she stuck her tongue out at him and promptly sped up. Soon, another man joined, chasing her. The woman crossed the street, rolling and sliding over car hoods that were sitting at a red light, startling the drivers out of their daze. The light turned green just as she got to the other side, stopping the men from reaching her. She turned and smiled at them and waved mockingly, the light quickly changed letting the four men cross, the woman let a small 'uh oh' slip and started to run again; running down the street she turned right and headed to the Mall.

The woman reached a set of stairs with three flights; not stopping she performed an aerial cartwheel down each flight. Running farther down the street coming to a subway entrance, the woman leaped over the first railing, her hands gripping the second one and she propelled her legs through her arms. The men behind her all did various tricks over the subway entrance. The woman ran heading towards a six foot wall she catapulted herself up into the air, twisting her body over the wall, and landing on the ground, not stopping, she continued to run. The men reached it, the first one stopped and cupped his hands for the others to use. The second man behind him put his foot in the first's hands and was catapulted over the wall. The others followed the second man's lead, using the first man to fly over the wall. The last man to go, landed on top of the wall and held his hand down for the first man to grab. The last pulled up the first and they jumped off the wall and took off after the woman.

The woman reached a bridge and half way over she looked behind her and saw the four men catching up pretty quickly. The woman looked down at the road below and smiled as she spotted her ticket out of there. She looked at the men and waved bye, she ran and flipped over the other side of the ridge, the men rushed to the side and saw her waving to them standing on top of a bus. The men groan and sigh.

"Damn, she beat us again." one of the men said. The leader sighed and pulled out his cell and pressed a button, he put it up to his ear waiting for the other person to pick up.

"_Do you give up?_" a woman's voice asked.

"Yes, we give up." the man grumbled as he walked down the street.

"_Great, now that will be a hundred each._" The woman said.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get you next time; I got some more buddies that want to join in on the fun." He said.

"_Great, see you next time._ "The woman said and hung up. The man shook his head, and motioned for the others to follow and took off.

On top of the bus, the woman smirked as she let down her long curly dark brown hair that would have fallen past her waist if the wind wasn't blowing it all around. The woman was sitting cross-legged on top of the bus, smiling like she won the lottery, and her green hazel eyes sparkled in delight. "That was an easy four hundred bucks. Hmm, I wonder where this goes." The woman asked and looked over the side of the bus, and saw it said Pentagon. She was about to say something but didn't because her cell rang again. "Yellow" the woman greeted.

"_Is that anyway to speak to your commanding officer_" A male voice barked.

"No sir, I apologies if it offended you sir." The woman switched to formality. The man laughed on the other line.

"_No harm, no foul Lt. Cross, now I am calling to ask you to come in to my office, details will be discussed there._" He said.

"Already there, Sir." She said looking into a window that showed an older gentleman in a uniform on his cell phone.

"_What do you mean, 'already there'?_" he asked.

"Look out your window." she said. The man in the window turned and saw the woman waving to him he sighed and told her to come in. the woman smiled and flipped off the bus, startling the exiting passengers, she entered the building heading towards security. The woman stopped for a second, took a look down at her tan cargo pants, white racer-back and leather fingerless gloves. "I hope I don't get any trouble for my outfit." She said, she got to security and recognized one of the guards on duty. "Hey, Rivers." She greeted him, "would you mind letting me through, the Big Guy called me in. I was in the area and didn't want to waste the time to get back to my apartment and get my badge."

"It's fine, we have a new system set up, Just put your handprint here." The guard said. Cross took off her glove and put her hand there; the machine beeped, and her profile came up. "It shows us who you are, rank, and what you have access to. You will still have to have your badge at all times but it is just another precaution."

"Nifty." She smiled putting her glove back on and went on through. She walked down a hall, and to an elevator, once inside she pressed the fourth floor and the doors closed. The doors opened again and Lieutenant Cross exited the elevator and headed down the long hallway. She reached the door and knocked on it three times.

"Come in." The voice of General Mark Warren came through the door. She entered the room, stood at attention. "At ease, Lieutenant." She relaxed and looked around the large office. She saw a group of people that looked strangely familiar. "This is the one I was telling you about, First Lieutenant Victoria Cross, knows almost every language in Afro-Eurasia, and if she doesn't know she has connections to anyone." General Warren boasted. Victoria Blushed and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, what can I say, sir, I love to travel." Victoria said.

"Victoria, you can drop the formalities."." Mark said and his demeanor changed from ridged to a more relaxed posture. "Now, this is Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Carlos Olivera, Sheva Alomar, and Leon Kennedy."


	3. Lunch at Marti's

_A/N: here is the second chapter, just want to get a good start before I start writing some more. _

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Victoria was shocked, being an avid –still-in-the-closet – video game player, thanks to her older brother. And with Resident evil being her absolute favorite game series, she knew those names well. She walked up closer to the people and took a closer look at the group of people the first man he was tall, a bit taller than the General who she knew was an impressive six foot five inches, with short brown hair, brown eyes, and his skin was tanned nicely, must be Chris Redfield, he looks exactly like he did in Resident evil 5, except dressed in a white t-shirt, and dark blue jeans.

The woman next to him was shorter than him, with the top of her head just reaching his shoulders. She had shoulder length brown hair and light blue eyes; Victoria could only assume that this was Jill, she is even prettier in person. Jill was dressed in skinny jeans and a bright red tank top with a black jean jacket over it. The next man was of Latino descent, he was the shortest of the three men but still pretty tall, and his caramel brown hair fell into his dark brown eyes. His wore tan cargo pants and a dark green long sleeve shirt. He also had on what appears to be Native American looking necklaces. Looking at him she recognized who he was, Carlos Olivera, the once Umbrella mercenary. Victoria smiled inwardly her good friend, fellow Free Runner and Resident evil fanatic, Rebecca "Becca" Tresmont would be extremely jealous that she met her favorite character.

Looking to the second woman, who was African, she was taller than Jill and Victoria but shorter than the men in the room, and her hair was pulled back in a small ponytail. Victoria knew she was Sheva Alomar, the newest member to the Resident evil scene. Victoria looked to the last man leaning against the wall; he was a tad shorter than the General but still a formidable height with dirty blonde hair that fell into his dark blue eyes. He wore dark shirt, a leather jacket over it and dark blue jeans. This was Leon Kennedy, if possible more handsome than portrayed. Looking into his blue eyes Victoria saw what looked to be recognition, but it pass through his eyes so quickly she was not sure. A frown graced her lips before she shook herself from her thoughts and shook their hands and greeted each of them.

"You know," she paused. "y'all make me feel short." The teasing look in her eye caused them all to laugh, breaking the ice. Now, Victoria wasn't small by any means, a very respectable five feet and five and a half inches. She smiled and sat down on top of the desk.

"Now the reason you are here, my dear." Mark said. "It's because these five are on a cleanup mission around the world, and they need an interpreter and someone they can trust."

"And that would be me?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, only you will know of their true identity, and there is something else…" Mark trailed of as the door slammed open. Strolling in, like he owned the place, was a short dark haired man dressed in U.S Army Class As. Victoria and Mark's demeanor changed as the man walked in. Victoria became tenser and was wound up like a tight wire, ready to snap. Mark went back to the stiff and formal appearance he had before.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Victoria stood up as she saw the man

"Lt. Cross Please, Sit down!" General Warren ordered. "This is Captain Bill Blackburn." he sighed he ran his hands through his graying blond hair. "He is the other person that will be on your team."

"How good are they, besides Lt. Cross's language skills?" Chris asked.

"Victoria Please," Victoria interrupted, giving them a soft smile. "I never liked formalities and if I can I try to avoid them."

"Lt. Cross is a quick girl and is an excellent Free Runner, good with most guns, but her specialty is sniping, a girl's got a natural talent for that on top of unofficial training from some of the top sniper riflemen in the world. She can think quickly on her feet, sometimes too quickly." General Warren said Victoria gave him a small glare and sheepishly smiled at him. "She is good at adapting to a situation."

"That is good, seems she will be very useful." Leon said coolly.

"Captain Blackburn is an expert fighter and good with guns also, he has a knack for computers." The General said.

"Don't forget Womanizer, Cheater, and all around asshole." Victoria growled, "the nerve of that bastard, he broke my sister completely; she hasn't looked at another man since then."

"Oh, I guess you're still sore about my breaking your little sister's heart." Blackburn scoffed.

"No Shit, you bastard, you cheated on her with any woman, you insulted her any chance you got. You made her believe that you loved her, and then you threw her away like trash. So yeah, I'm _a little_ sore." Victoria yelled, she stalked towards Blackburn but before she got five feet from him the General stopped her.

"Sit down Lt. Cross, and you are dismiss Captain, I do not want to see you until the debriefing, is that understood." General Warren commanded.

"Yes Sir." Blackburn smirked, saluted, and walked out of the office.

Victoria huffed and sat back down not happy at all, "Why is that fu…"

"Victoria!" Warren interrupted "do not take that tone with me or in my presence"

"Yes Sir." Victoria snapped to attention.

"You know I feel the same way that you do, but the Higher ups wanted someone from their crew to keep an eye on this mission. And just to spite me they sent that stupid S.O.B." He explained. Mark sighed and put her at ease, at once both of their postures relaxed and they were back to how they were back to how they were before the Captain walked in. Mark turned to the others "Look; I know that Victoria is hungry, and it is around lunch. Why don't we go out and get something to eat?"

"Sounds great" Jill said.

"Good, I know this great place to eat." The General smiled.

"Marti's?" Victoria asked.

"Yes." Mark answered.

"Cool, I'll meet you there; I have four hundred dollars to collect." she told him.

"And why are you collecting four hundred dollars?" Mark questioned. "Doesn't the army pay you enough?"

"Well, for one, extra money never hurts, and two, it is the annual parkour games for Urban Evolution, and the boys asked for it." Mark laughed at her statement and patted her hard on the back.

"They never learn, do they?"

"Hell no, even after five years in a row losing to moi." Victoria laughed. "They are getting more people together to see if they can catch me again next year."

"Why are they so hell bent on catching you." Leon asked.

"Because I am the fastest, most daring, and crazy person they know. It started five years ago with a simple game of tag, no one could catch me. I would always manage to slip past them whenever the other team got close. It ended up being all against one, because I was the best. And to be the best you have to beat the rest." Victoria explained.

"So it's all a game?" Carlos asked.

"Of course, I love to play games with some free running buddies, where ever I go I always find time to play at least one game. When I was in Paris last year I got to play ball with a group there, it was crazy we were up on top of the buildings." Victoria smiled. "My team won, of course."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Jill asked.

"And what you do isn't." Victoria countered.

"Touché" Jill smiled.

"Well I'm out; I'll see you in twenty." Victoria nodded as she exited the room. Minutes later she stepped outside the pentagon and bolted. They followed her movement out of the window.

"What do you think of her?" Mark asked.

"She is good, very athletic, but what I am curious is about is what your relationship is with her?" Chris asked.

"That is a long story, come I'll tell you on the way to the restaurant." Mark said as we walked out to his SUV.

Once on the road Mark started to talk. "Victoria, was the only child of her parents; her mother owns a ranch near Lexington; Victoria lives with her when she is on leave."

"Isn't that three hours away?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah it is, so when she is on duty or needs to be in the city she stays in my apartment." Mark said. "Her father, Cain, and I worked together as SEALs."

"SEALS? But aren't you an army General?" Chris asked

"Yes I am, but I got out and a couple years later I was offered a job by the government organization you work for. Victoria doesn't know about the organization, at least not yet that is. I will have to explain this to her within the next two days." Mark told Carlos. "But anyway, back when Victoria was ten we were still SEALs ,Cain and I were on what would be our last mission, our mission was to figure out what happened to decimate a village in South America, the village was chaotic and in the fray I lost sight of my swim buddy, never saw him after that." Mark sighed pausing in the memory. "And that is why I got out of the SEALs, went to college and got my degree. I started up my own security firm, a couple years later the Army said they would reinstate me and if I worked hard in a couple years I could make General. I couldn't resist the call to serve my country again, so I gave control of the company over to my Ex-wife, and here I am."

"That is how you got into our department isn't it?" Leon asked

"Yeah, I don't know how you guys can do it daily, it takes someone more that human to withstand seeing that more than once, and so you better watch over Victoria." Mark warned.

"So what happened to her and her mother?" Jill asked.

"Well, it tore up her mother, Helena; she wasn't the same after that, we were lucky not to lose her. We waited months to hear anything about him but we never anything and assumed he was killed." Mark said as he stopped the car. "Well, here we are, let's go inside and get a table, then I will continue telling the rest of the story."

They walked inside the restaurant quietly, each one thinking about what they heard. Looking around the restaurant everyone took in the layout of it. There was a bar off to the right, a stage in front with a band playing. There was a booth along the side and tables in the center, and next to the tables and in front of the stage there was a dance floor with people dancing on it.

"DADDY!" a young woman cried. Mark was engulfed in a hug by a small blond woman.

"Trinity; honey, how are you today?" Mark asked her.

"Professor Z was boring as usual, and I swear that man sweats more than a stuck pig; but other than that great. Now do you want your normal booth?" She asked pointing towards a half circle booth.

"Off course and Victoria is coming in soon so can you get her something she would like." Mark said.

"Sure." She said and walked off.

"Was that the girl Lt. Cross was talking about?" Sheva asked seeming quite interested in the small blond.

"Yes, believe it or not she is only 20. She goes to college here in D.C." Mark smiled; they sat down in his booth and picked out what they each wanted to eat.

"So what happened to her after her father died?" Leon asked curious about Victoria, she has seemed to have sparked his interest to the amusement of his comrades.

"Ah, yes, she did go into a depression, she was only twelve. I promised her father if anything were to happen to him I would watch over her and her mother, and I did. At first Victoria wouldn't talk to anyone but her mother and would just sleep, but thankfully my two kids, Lucas, my oldest, and Trinity, were able to bring her out of her shell, but what really brought her out was Free running, after that we started to see more and more of the old Victoria back." Mark finished. He looked at his watch and frowned.

"What is it?" Sheva asked.

"She's late; it only takes her ten minutes to get here usually adding at least ten more minutes for her to get her money." Mark told them, seconds later the door slammed open and walked in, a soaking wet Victoria. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was shivering from the cold. The water made her cloths stick to her body like a second skin, all the guys in the bar stared at her blatantly; Leon shot them a cold glare causing each one to turn back to what they were doing. Leon did not like how they looked at her like she was a piece of meat. He was raised to respect women and Victoria did not deserve to be treated like that. He stood up and took off his jacket and walked to Victoria and put it around her. Victoria blushed and thanked him pulling it closer to her body thankful for the cover. She was engulfed in the warmth and smell of Leon, which she had to admit, was a damn good smell.

"What the hell happened, Tori?" Trinity asked walking up with their drinks.

"Met up with the bike race on the bridge." Victoria said and Trinity started to laugh causing Victoria to pout. "You're not nice; a nice sister would feel bad and offer a clean set of clothes."

"You're right I'm not a nice sister, but I'm your only, now let's get you some clothes don't want the perverts to keep staring at your chest." Trinity laughed, got their orders, and led Victoria away.

"Does this happen often?" Chris asked.

"It isn't always this, but yeah she can get into some trouble." Mark smiled, minutes later Victoria came back dressed in a simple dark red spaghetti strap dress, that went down to her mid thigh, and a pair of black ankle boots. Leon's jacket hung loosely over her shoulders. Her hair was up off of her neck and in a messy bun, still damp from her dive into the river. Leon scooted in since he was on the end and let her sit down.

"Sorry about that, wasn't expecting to take a bath so soon." Victoria joked. "Here is your jacket, thank you so much for lending it to me." Leon nodded and took the jacket back.

"Don't worry about it; you look nice by the way." Jill smiled.

"Thanks, Trini has learned to always have a spare set of clothes for me here, if it isn't the Hudson, its mud or grim." Victoria smiled.

"What about sewer water?" Trinity said as she passed their table. Victoria pointed her finger in a threatening manner at her sister.

"You were never to mention that again, brat."

"So you ran all the way here?" Sheva asked trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, it isn't that bad of a run. The chased today was pretty much from one side of the city to the other." Victoria told her.

"And you won?" Carlos said.

"Yeah four hundred bucks, it took jumping off a bridge and onto a bus to get away, they're getting harder to evade each time we play, I think they know me too well." Victoria smiled.

"A risk taker?" Leon said.

"A little . . . I told you I was crazy, but there are things I won't even consider doing." Victoria said. Trinity arrived with their food and set it down. "Hey . . . Is it alright to talk about who you really are or should I completely keep it hush, hush."

"No, it's alright to talk about it here, but thank you for thinking of us." Jill said thankful knowing that Victoria wouldn't blurt out who they were to the world.

"No prob, just let me know if I overstep any lines." Victoria said. "So how much of the games are actually true?"

"Most of it is, but there are things changed here and there and some background details too." Chris answered.

"Oh cool, I mean I find playing the games fun, but man it must have been scary for you." Victoria admitted.

"It was, especially when you aren't expecting it." Carlos answered.

"I would think so," Victoria said thoughtfully, "Hmm, so how come no one knows about this, or is this all been covered up?"

"Yes we don't want mass panic on our hands; it would make our jobs much harder." Leon told her.

"And I'm one of the lucky few who know what is going on behind the scenes." Victoria said.

"Yep." Sheva smiled.

"What's our mission?" Victoria asked.

"There have been an increase in biohazard attacks and we are to find the source of where they are coming from." Leon said.

"Got it." Victoria smiled. They slipped into normal conversation as they finished their meal.

"Victoria, I've been meaning to ask, what is that huge ring on your finger for?" Carlos asked. Victoria smiled and looked down at the huge ring on her finger; it was around 40 penny weight with rustic silver with cross sabers on top.

"This ring is my class ring, I went through hell at that school and I am damn proud of it. We get these our junior year in a big ceremony; it's a huge deal at my school." Victoria said with a proud grin on her face. "This is my field ring, I have a garrison ring as well, and it's a 44 penny weight white gold with an opal stone."

"That is huge." Sheva said astonished.

"Hell yeah, and we are damn proud of our rings."

"Excuse me, do you want to dance?" A man came up asking Victoria. Victoria smiled and nodded, she was known for dancing pretty well at Marti's, and some of the regulars would occasionally ask her to dance. Victoria took his hand and they walked to the dance floor just as the tango came on. Leon watched Victoria closely, as she moved her body. He watched her lithe form as she danced with the stranger, her curly hair bounced with life and green hazel that had golden flakes in the center gleamed with joy. And despite being a runner she still had nice curves. And yes he did check her out when we first met, but that is something he would never admit it aloud. His job was dangerous and he didn't have time for a woman, and his current track record with them wasn't all that great either.

Victoria ended her dance and sat back in the booth while everyone was clapping. "You dance very well." Leon said.

"Thanks, my mother taught me, she said that a lady should always know how to dance." Victoria blushed

"Oh so you are a lady, now?" Trinity asked as she came up with the bill.

"Yes, now give me the bill." Victoria pouted.

"No, Trinity, give it to me." Mark said.

"Oh God, No fighting over the bill." Trinity whined.

"I extended the invitation so I pay." Mark said.

"You paid last time, It's my turn." Victoria said.

"No, I will pay." Mark said Victoria shook her head.

"Nuh-uh, I won four hundred dollars."

"I have seniority, and I out rank you."

"Then the lower and younger pay." she countered, they both stared at each other in a grid-lock battle of will. Victoria huffed in annoyance. "We need some sophisticated way of dealing with this." she declared.

"Rock paper scissors." He offered.

"Exactly." Victoria agreed and then started the fiercest game of rock paper scissors.

"Do they do this every time they go out to eat?" Sheva asked Trinity, the smile on her face giving way to the entertainment she received from the two's childish antics.

"Yes." Trinity groaned. "We tried to have a system set up, but it never works."

"It is quite funny." Jill laughed, Victoria had won the first game and Mark complained saying two out of three, which she won all three. She took the bill and paid it in cash then gave it to Trinity, Trinity left and then a short while later returned with the change. As they were leaving Trinity was giving them all hugs, Sheva admired the small attractive woman and gave her an extra squeeze when she hugged her. Trinity smiled slipped something into Sheva back pocket. When Trinity pulled away she winked at Sheva and then turned to go into the back. Sheva smiled as she pulled out the piece of paper"

_(293)569-1294 call me - Trinity_

Smiling and Sheva slipped the piece of paper back into her pocket and followed the others out.

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_Yeah, Victoria can be a bit childish, but that is all part of her charm. and the thing about the class rings it is true. I do go to a school which has a contract that states if anyone tries to beat us in ring size Jonstons is obligated to create a bigger ring. the biggest ring can be considered a brass knuckle weapon. _

_please let me know what you think, if there is any confusion I would be glad to clear it up. _

_Tata for now._


	4. Autumn Run

_here is the third chapter of To the End, thank you to lilmonsnerdDG, TalkOrWalk, Katara Melody Cullen, for favoriting this story i am glad that you enjoy it very much. I would love to hear back from anyone about my story, i love hearing feedback. now on with they story. _

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They all piled into Mark's vehicle to drive back to the pentagon so Mark could get back to work and where Chris left his own vehicle. Victoria lean forward from the back seat to ask Chris when they were leaving.

"Tomorrow evening." Chris told her

"Where are you guys staying?" Victoria asked.

"I have taken the liberty of talking with your mother and asking if they could stay on the Ranch. She agreed and their luggage is already there in the spare bedrooms." Mark said

"That's cool." Victoria said. "Mama would have killed me if I didn't see her before I left. And it would give us time to get to know each other better before we left for the mission,"

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Sheva asked.

"Yeah, and if you want you can help out with the horses, but you don't have to." Victoria said not wanting to push anything on them but she always enjoy the company when she work, hopefully C.J. will be there so if they don't want to she will at least have someone. Mark drove them to the pentagon where their cars were. Victoria hugged Mark and he went back to his office to finish up work. She stopped as she realized that she didn't have my car. Victoria face-palmed and groaned, turning to the others she sheepishly smiled. "Uh, would it be too much to ask if I can get a ride with you, I ran from our apartment and it would waist too much time to go there and get it then drive from there."

"Sure but my Ford Truck can only hold five people so you'll have to sit in someone's lap." Chris said.

"You can sit in my lap Chika." Carlos smiled. Victoria turned to him with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.

"Don't think so." She said.

"Eh, it was worth a try." Carlos smiled. Chris led the way to a black Ford Super-Duty 450. "Nice truck." She commented.

"Thanks." Chris said as he got into the driver seat, Jill got in to the passenger seat next to Chris. In the back Carlos sat behind Jill, Sheva sat in the middle and Leon behind Chris. Victoria blushed as she found that it would be Leon's lap she would be sitting in.

"Are you coming?" Leon asked holding out a hand to her. She nodded and took his hand; Leon pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist to hold her in place. Victoria was blushing bright red, his arms felt like steal around her waist, she turned away hoping to hide her red face, but Sheva and Jill caught it. She managed to calm her face in time for Chris to look back and ask for directions. Victoria told him where to go and then felt the day start to catch up with her. Everyone was talking about monotonous things and she soon fell asleep listening to everyone talk.

Leon looked down at Victoria, her head resting on his chest; he had to physically resist the urge to play with her wild hair. It was her, the girl who he saved a couple years ago. It has been years since then, but he remembers it well. The embassy was the first of a long list of attacks that have only gotten worst, the attacks are almost becoming too much to hide. But, it seems like she doesn't remember it at all. It is the general's request that it remain that way. But he will not forget the strength and fear in her eyes that night. Leon, lost in his thoughts, turned to Carlos who was smiling at him.

"So our stone cold agent finally found someone that he likes." Carlos teased. Leon scowled at him but said nothing, Leon wouldn't dare hurt the man who he viewed like a brother, but if he didn't feel that way about Carlos he would have put him six feet under. Leon growled at him but stopped when Victoria snuggled deeper into his chest, Leon felt his cheeks heat up when she whispered unintelligibly into his chest. Carlos started to laugh when he noticed Leon's blush; Leon growled again and quickly took a swipe at him reaching over Sheva, who ducked.

"Hey! Don't make me separate you two." Chris yelled into the back. Jill and Sheva started laughing at the two of them, Leon was about to tell them to shove it when he was distracted again by Victoria who shifted around and hugged him closer. He tried to gently remove her arms but she was surprisingly strong for someone of her size. Leon sighed and just wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her cinnamon, vanilla and pumpkin pie scent that reminded him of his mother home cooking watched as the scenery pass falling asleep soon after.

Carlos looked around at the endless hills of the countryside reminding him of his Diné –or more the widely known name, Navajo -grandfather's home where he use to run through the fields and forest. He sighed remembering those days, he felt so free and wild, but since Umbrella turned the world around he hasn't been able to do that in a while. Carlos sighed and turned his head to look over Leon and Victoria, who were asleep. Jill and Sheva had out their camera phones taking pictures, he'll have to ask for a picture, it isn't every day that you see Leon actually warming up to someone like that. Leon is still was uncomfortable with Claire hugging him. Maybe Carlos thought he could spare a moment when he is there to go for a run, there is plenty of room.

3 hours later-

"Hey, Sheva, can you wake Victoria, I need the next part of the directions." Chris said. Sheva nodded and then gently shook Victoria awake.

"Darlin' wake up. We need to give us more directions." Sheva said gently Victoria yawned and stretched her arms accidently hitting Leon in the face. Victoria realized that she hit Leon and gasped. Leon woke with a start, gripping Victoria tighter to him and growled out, as if to protect her from an unseen adversary.

"Oh, Sorry." Victoria apologized and Leon relaxed, turning to Sheva Victoria gave the rest of the directions to her ranch. After twenty minutes they pulled through the gates of Autumn Run Stables. Lining the road were wood fences and acres of land behind them. After traveling a couple miles in they reached a beautiful red brick three story mansion and not too far way was a large red barn with corals and paddocks around it, off to the right there was a good size lake with a dock attached to it. In the background you could see the Appalachian Mountains.

"Wow, you live here?" Sheva asked

"Yeah, welcome to Autumn Run Stables. It's been in our family for generations, my dad's family has had this land since Europeans came to America. And we have been raising horses since the Revolutionary War." Victoria said proudly. As they pulled up to the house, next to a group of cars, an older woman stepped out of the house to greet them, behind her a couple dogs followed barking their greeting to the new arrivals. Leon opened the door and helped Victoria out of the truck and she ran to the older woman and gave her a hug. "Evenin' Mama." She greeted. The others joined her as she stepped away. "Mama I would like to introduce to you my new partners…" Victoria trailed off not knowing what to say and hoping that they would fill in for her. Each one stepped forward and gave their first name.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Helena." She said flipping her curly black hair over her shoulder. A small body flew past Helena and crashed into Victoria, almost knocking her down.

"Sissy!" the little one yelled.

"Annabelle!" Victoria shouted as she stood up with the small girl in her arms and tossed her up in the air. The little girl squealed as she flew in the air. Victoria caught her and placed Annabelle on her hip.

"And that is Annabelle our youngest." Helena said chuckling gently ruffling the girl's curly blond hair. "Oh, and Dear, C.J. is just about to leave with a group of overnighters, why don't you go make sure everything is set."

"Sure mama." Victoria said and walked off.

"We run trail rides, over nighters, and lessons here at our ranch, C.J. has been working for us for quite a few years now, and she is one of the best and one of Victoria's best friends. Come, let's go inside we have much to discuss." Helena told them and they followed her into the house.

Victoria smiled as she looked out into the pasture and saw a large black stallion, standing at around 17 hands. "Tori!" a voice yelled. She turned and spotted a short woman with shoulder length flaming red hair.

"C.J., what's up, I heard you are taking a group out on an overnighter." Victoria said to her.

"Yeah, you want to join us?" C.J. asked.

"Maybe later for a little, I found out that I'm going to be leaving for a mission tomorrow evening. My partners are here, most likely getting coddled by mama." Victoria joked.

"Yeah, your mom sure knows how to run a house hold." C.J. said as she walked back to where the trail group was waiting by the horses. There were a family with young kids and some young men and women in the group. Victoria and C.J. helped the younger kids on the horses first, and then started with the older riders. The older, obviously single, men flirted with both girls, C.J. and Victoria rolled her eyes at the men's advances.

"Awe, common we are already blessed with one gorgeous guide why not two. We could have a lot of…fun." One man laid it on thick.

"Oh, don't worry it will be fun with or without me, but I have other things to do." Victoria said politely as she could, all while trying to reign in her temper. C.J. scowled at him and asked Victoria to help with one of the other female riders. Victoria smiled and nodded; she was relieved to be away from the persistent men.

"Look here, mister." C.J. growled. "You may be a payin' costumer but I will not tolerate that kind of talk to my friend and you are lucky she didn't kick your ass for it." When they started to snigger, C.J. cut them with an icy glare. "You think that is funny?"

"She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly. How is she going to take on a man like one of us?" the Youngest of the men boasted.

"She has been trained by some of the top military professionals, and is well versed in quite a few fighting systems, some of which are illegal to use in the United States." Claire said.

"You're just messing with us." Another of the men said nervously.

"No, I am not, and even if she doesn't maim you, her Navy SEAL brother would. So watch it." C.J. then smiled brightly as the men grew pale. She walked to her own horse Andromeda, a white mare, and mounted her. "All right you guys, are you ready for some fun?" C.J. asked the little ones replied enthusiastically, and the adults chuckled at their antics. "Well, alright let's go." C.J. kicked her horse to go and the other horses fell into line.

Victoria smiled and waved them off before turning back to the pasture where she saw the large stallion. She leaned against the fence and brought her hand up to her lips and blew a loud whistle. In matter of seconds she heard a loud whinny and the thunder of hoof beats as they struck the ground. The black stallion came cantering up the field stopping in front of Victoria, who smiled and petted his large forehead.

"Hey, how's my big boy. Are you doing just fine?" Victoria said. The horse goes for her other hand, nibbling at it, as if she had food there. "Gabriel, what are you doing…no I don't have any food for you." She giggled. "If you don't watch it you are going to get fat Gabe."

"Is this your horse?" a male voice said. Victoria turned to see Leon walking up. She turned away from him as she blushed.

"Uh yeah, his name is Gabriel, a pure breed Frisian." She told him.

"He certainly is a handsome creature." Leon said he held out his hand for Gabriel to sniff, at first Gabriel seemed skittish of Leon but slowly he moved closer to Leon's hand sniffing. Leon started chuckling as the horse nibbled at it looking for food "Seems like he is hungry."

"He is always hungry, but he is my hungry baby." Victoria smiled at Leon as she scratched Gabe's neck. Leon, who was petting the horse's forehead, put his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a carrot.

"Helena said that he liked carrots." Leon smiled as he fed the horse.

"Oh I see trying to bribe him into liking you." Victoria teased.

"Well it's said that the fastest way to a horse's heart is through his stomach." Leon replied

"Same thing can be said for men."

"Touché" the two laughed over the small friendly banter.

"Have you ever ridden?" Victoria asked

"Yeah, I had an uncle who owned a couple horses and he taught me to ride pretty well, though it has been quite a few years." Leon smiled.

"Yeah, well they say it's like riding a bike, once you know how to do it you never forget." Victoria smiled back, then a light sparked in her eyes and her smile turned mischievous. "Come on, Cowboy, let's test that theory." She said and grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the barn.

"Dressed like that?" Leon asked motioning to her red dress and boots. Victoria laughed and pulled up dress to reveal tight black shorts underneath.

"I never wear a dress or skirt without shorts, I learned that lesson a couple years ago when I had to chase Gabe who had stolen my hat; I tripped over a log and gave everyone a nice view." Victoria then led him to a stall that had large stallion that was a slivery dun color with dark brown mane and tail. "This is Hercules, he is Gabriel's sire." She grabbed a halter and gave it to Leon. "Come on, I hope you remember how to tack up a horse, cowboy." Victoria teased Leon laughed and walked into the stall and calmly placed the halter onto the horse and led him out to the hall and secured the horse with two lead ropes. Gently he stroked Hercules's neck and then took the grooming tools Victoria held out to him.

"See, no problem." Leon smirked as he started to groom Hercules. Victoria laughed and shook her head.

"So does that mean I can go get Gabriel and tack him up." Victoria smiled. Leon nodded his head and she grabbed a red halter and lead and walked out to the pasture. Leon smiled as he watched her walk away, she was an intriguing person, and he actually liked to have her around. He has never been this trusting of someone he just met since it happened a couple years ago. Ever since he…

"Leon you ready?" Victoria interrupted his thoughts as she tied up Gabriel. He nodded his head she patted Gabriel on the nose before showing Leon Hercules's saddle and bridle, she grabbed Gabriel's grooming supplies then got to work with brushing out his jet-black coat. Leon saddled Hercules and then walked over to Victoria and helped her with Gabriel. She smiled and thanked him, once finished brushing Victoria grabbed Gabriel's saddle and put it on him. Leon grabbed the bridle and put it on Hercules and then waited for Victoria to do the same. She put on Gabriel's bridle and then walked out of the barn with Leon. Once outside they mounted the horses and Victoria took the lead. They headed up a steep path; she took this in hopes of catching up to C.J.'s group and ride with them.

"So, where are we headed?" Leon asked.

"Well, if I'm right, we should run into the trail group that just left, I wanna check on them first then a little down their path is the path I want to take you on." Victoria told him. He nodded his head and they fell into a comfortable silence. Just up the path they started to hear people talking and the horses' sounds. "C.J.!" Victoria yelled out to the auburn haired woman leading the herd of tourist. Victoria spurred Gabriel into a canter, with Leon on her tail; she caught up to the head of the group and smiled at them. "Hey y'all, I hope you are have a great time here. I'm Victoria and this here is Leon, we'll be riddin' with y'all for a short while then veer off onto another trail." Victoria turned to C.J. to introduce Leon to her. "C.J. this is Leon," she said motioning to Leon not noticing his look of recognition. "And Leon this is…"

"Claire?" Leon interjected

"Claire." Victoria repeated. "Wait? What? Do you two know each other?"

"Yeah we kinda do hon'." Claire sheepishly smiled at her.

"Does this mean what I think it means." Victoria asked her.

"If your thinking what I'm thinking then yes it does." Claire responded.

"Oh-dear." Victoria sighed.

"I'm guessin' you will want some sorta explanation later on right?" Claire asked.

"You betcha." Victoria gave her a _'duh'_ look then shook it off smiling for the group.

"Now what trail are you heading up?" Claire turned her horse and started once again on the trail.

"Up Sander's pass." Victoria pointed off into the distance, in the direction of Sander's pass.

"Really? I heard that there have been reports of a cougar in that area."

"Hmm I haven't heard, well I guess I'll keep an eye out for one." Victoria took the warning seriously It was the Blue Ridge and it was known to have cougars, especially in this area. Lucas had to hunt one down a couple years ago that was threatening the horses. It shook her and her family that it was so close, it was in the same paddock that Annabelle was riding Big Blue. The cougar didn't get close enough before Gabriel jumped the fence and scared it off.

Up ahead they reached the turn-off for Sander's pass Victoria and Leon said their good-byes to the group and followed the trail. "How did you meet Claire?" Leon asked further up the trail.

"I met her a couple years ago, her bike broke down a couple miles down from our farm and I met her when I was riding Gabe, I stopped and gave her a ride to our place where she called the mechanic. Her bike needed a couple days to be fixed and my mother wouldn't allow her to waste money for a hotel room when she could stay at our place." Victoria smiled at the memory, her mother badgering C.J. into staying at the house. "Anyway, once we got her onto one of our horses we couldn't get her to stay away, and soon she was staying and became a ranch hand. Best one we've ever had."

"It is nice knowing now that she has been happy." Leon said. Victoria looked at him curiously, wondering if there was something going on between him and C.J.

"Yeah, I'm sure from what I saw playing Resident evil." Victoria said.

"So you play video games often?" Leon asked. Victoria looked at him like he grew a second head then started to laugh.

"That sounded like a pickup line a thirty-two year old WOW gamer who lives in his mother's basement would use." She laughed; Leon shook his head and chuckled quietly. Taking a deep breath and calming herself down, she answered him. "And yes, when I can. My favorites are the zombie and or monster games, like Left 4 Dead, Silent Hill, Bio-shock, and of course Resident evil."

"Oh, and who is your favorite character from Resident evil?" Leon asked, he smiled watching how she blushed from her face down her neck disappearing under her dress.

"Uh…" Victoria coughed and said the first name, other than his, that came to mind. "Nemesis."

"Nemesis?!" Leon asked surprised. Victoria stifled her laughter and straightened her face for her next words.

"What can I say, I like bad boys." The look on Leon's face was enough to send her into a fit of laughter. "My God, you totally fell for that." She wiped the tears from her eyes as her laughter subsided.

"Oh, ha, ha, Laugh at me now, but just you wait I'll get you, just you wait." Leon teased. He was fully relaxed around Victoria it was astounding.

"Oh, I'm so scared."

"You should be, I have happened to have taken down things over two stories tall." Leon said jokingly, he stopped when he didn't hear Victoria laughing along with him. He turned to see why and saw the solemn look on her face. "Victoria?"

"It must have been scary." She said Leon face dropped into a blank stare as he thought back to those times when he faced creatures unimaginable by a normal human.

"It was." Leon said.

"You must think badly about me." Victoria looked troubled. Leon looked back at her wondering what was going through her head. "I mean I always found enjoyment in the games, you know it was fun to me, to sit there in the comfort of my home and play kill the zombie or kill the monster."

Stopping his horse Leon frowned at her. "I don't think badly about you for enjoy the game, that was part of the purpose of it." Victoria stopped her horse and turned to face him. "I'm glad you played the games it helps you understand what is going on, and there is a large difference between the games and real life. They were designed for fun, not for training or to show what really happens." Leon urged Hercules forward and stopped right next to Gabriel. He put his finger underneath Victoria's chin and lifted her face up towards his, his dark blue eyes staring down into her golden green ones. "Don't worry about it, from what I've heard so far there is no way I could think badly about you." Victoria blushed and smiled brightly at him.

"Alright." She said as she turned her horse around. "Thank you for making me feel better about it, it has been eating at me ever since I met you guys."

"Good." Leon said. "So where are we going again?"

"To Sander's pass, it's a remote place that only locals know." Victoria explained. "It takes some time to get there but it is defiantly worth the trip."

"Are we staying up here all night?" Leon asked.

"No, we'll be out here just long enough to have enough time to get back in before supper." Victoria told him. "It isn't that much farther up." She kicked Gabriel into a trot with Leon following close behind. After fifteen minutes they reached the pass. Leon looked over the land and was amazed at the simple beauty of it.

"Wow, it is quite a sight." Leon said.

"I know when mama took me here, right after my father went missing, she told me that my father always took her out here and that this is the place where they shared their first kiss, and where he proposed to her. I love it because of its beauty and because I feel that I am always a tiny bit closer to my dad here." Victoria told him.

"The General told us what happened to your father on the way to the restaurant."

"So you know about me. That's unusual; he usually leaves that up to me, if I want others to know." A comfortable silence settled between the two as they rode down the pass.

"You miss him don't you?" Leon said after minutes of silence.

"Yeah, I do. I still have that little girl fantasy that one day he will walk back in the front door and everything would be alright." Victoria's eyes misted as she held back the tears. She shook herself of the depressing emotion and brought a smile back to her face. "Come on." She said.

"Where are we going?" Leon asked.

"Come on, there is a path that leads to this gorgeous lake." Victoria took the lead with Leon close behind. Leon slowed down after a while; there was something in the air that didn't sit right with him. It took him seconds to realize what it was, but it was seconds to late to stop it. A large cougar sprang out from a high ledge onto Victoria. She screamed as the cat's large teeth latched onto her arm that she had raised to fend off the large animal. The large cat and Victoria both landed onto the rocky ground. Victoria's head landed on a rock creating a nasty gash on the back of her head. Sharp claws dug into her side as her vision started to get blurry and her mind fuzzy. Leon reacted with unnaturally fast reflexes, he was on the cat in seconds ripping it off of Victoria, gripping the head in one hand and with a sharp and quick twist the cougar's neck snapped like a twig. The animal's body slumped in Leon's arms; Leon tossed the body and knelt down next to Victoria.

A quick assessment noted that her right side was ripped open by the cougar's sharp claws. Her left forearm was crushed by the strong jaws of the animal and her left shoulder and arm were also ripped open. Leon cursed and lifted her into his arms, he swiftly moved to Hercules and mounted quickly and took off in the direction of the house.

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_Well, it seems there is more to this than meets the eye. How will Victoria survive an attack such as this. Stay tuned. Please let me know what you think if this story Ialways appreciate hearing from my readers._


	5. Explanations

Hey Happy New Year y'all, it is awesome to post another chapter for my story. now things are starting to speed up, you find out where their first mission is, and explanations are about as well. I hope you are having as much fun reading this story as I am writing it. :)))

Well enjoy.

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Reaching the house he leapt off the horse, with Victoria still in his arms and ran into the house.

"Oh My god!" Helena exclaimed as she saw her daughter in Leon's arms.

"Where is Sheva?!" he asked.

"In the kitchen! What happened?!" Helena cried.

"Cougar, SHEVA!" Leon yelled for his teammate as he ran into the kitchen.

"What? Oh god." Sheva saw the damage to Victoria's body as she was laid down on the kitchen table. Blood pouring from the wounds were exponential, Helena was hysterical at the sight of so much blood. "Helena!" Sheva snapped at the woman. "I need you to get me a lot of towels, now!" Helena nodded crying as she left the room only to return shortly with an arm full of black towels. "Now go get Annabella and keep her away from here." Helena nodded and left the room for good.

"Leon go to my bag and get the herbs now!" Leon nodded and grabbed the bag from the other side of the room and pulled out three different containers and set them in front of Sheva. Sheva got to work immediately. Chanting sacred prayers and began mashing the herbs together, tendrils of green mist seeped from her hand into the herb mixture, her eyes emanated a vibrant green color as the chanting speed up. She then picked up the mixture and began applying it to the wounds covering every inch. The green mist spread from Sheva to Victoria, encasing the injured woman's body completely. After what seemed like hours the mist receded and the mixture had vanished and the wounds had been sealed. The dried blood that remained was the only sign there had been any injury at all. The green mist receded back into Sheva, the perspiration on her skin and labored breathing revealed the toll her body taken healing such grievous wounds. Her eyes closed as she fell into a dead faint, Leon caught her and set her carefully into a chair. Helena walked back into the kitchen, after putting Annabelle in her room, and saw her daughter healed.

"But how?" She whispered.

"We will explain it all when she wakes up" Leon explained. "Can you show me where her room is?"

"Sure, sure." Helena said in shock as she helped Leon down with Victoria and led them into the house. She led him up the main stairs and down the family hallway, and stopped at a room one doors from the end. "Here is her room." Opening the door Helena led him into the living room of a large suite. "You can set her down on her bed." Helena pointed towards another room that held a large four poster bed in the middle of the room. Leon gently set her down on the red sheets; he turned to Helena and told him that he would watch over her until she woke. Helena smiled and headed back downstairs. Leon sat there and watched Victoria, noting how peaceful she looked at the moment, but her eyes started to dart back and forth underneath her eyelids and her breathing quickened. It looked to be a nightmare. Victoria's eyes snapped open as she shot up awake. Leon quickly pulled her to him, feeling the way her body shook in pure fear. He petted her hair and shushed her as she slowly relaxed.

"What happened?" Leon asked pulling away from her.

"Nothing, just an old nightmare that I've had for a couple of years."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, ugh, what happened to me I feel like I've been run over."

"Try being attacked by a cougar." Victoria eyes widen as the memories flashed before her eyes, the cougar's razor sharp teeth tearing into her arm and claws ripping into her body. The painful memory caused her to flinch as she assessed herself.

"But…" Victoria trailed off severely confused, her mind tried to process the reality that she had no injuries to match her memories. Her breathing became shallow and she started hyperventilating.

"Breathe" Leon commanded, taking her hands in his. "In" he inhaled, "out" He exhaled and watched as she followed suit. "In, out" her breathing started even out and return to normal. "Good girl," he smiled "now are you alright?"

"NO! You ripped the thing off of me and snapped its neck, just like that, and how am I perfectly fine! That thing ripped me apart, I remember it, I remember the pain of the thing's teeth in my arm, crushing it." Victoria's breathing was quick and uneven; she was starting to hyperventilate again. Leon just pulled her into his arms this time and rocked her back and forth.

"Everything is all right." Leon said calmly.

"NO, It's not!"

"Victoria!" Leon snapped he grabbed her face and forced her to look into his eyes. "Relax, you are fine. Everything is okay. Take deep, slow breaths, for me, like before." When Victoria started to clam her breathing, he rubbed her cheek, and then dropped his hands. "Are you calm?" Victoria nodded. "What I did wasn't human." Leon explained to her. "And you were healed by magic, that isn't normal either." Leon paused and looked into her golden green eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, after you explain everything to me,"

"I will. And so will the others."

Victoria took a couple of deep breaths and looked him in the eyes. "Does that mean what I think it means."

"What do you think it means?" Leon asked her

"You aren't human." Victoria said. Leon gave her a 'no shit' look, and Victoria just smiled at him; suddenly a thought crossed Victoria's mind and she stared at him with scrutiny.

"You're not a vampire, right? You won't go all sparkly on me, will you?" Leon let out a bark of laughter.

"No. I am very much alive and not dead…or undead." Leon told her trying to control his laughter. "And no, I won't go 'all sparkly' on you."

"Are you going to let me in on the little secret?" Victoria asked impatiently after a minute.

"I will if you would be quiet."

"Fine" she grumbled.

"Basically, a couple years ago I died, and I found out I was a part of a special race of beings that spend the first half of their lives as humans until their death in which they are turned into stronger beings with animalistic characteristics and special gifts." Leon explained. "We call ourselves The Blood."

"Okay. . . Well. . . um. . . wow. . . " Victoria stuttered not expecting that explanation. "Are they usually the same animal or is there a variety?"

"There is a variety; I am what we call a Blood Leopard." Leon told her.

"Wow, that's not something you hear every day." Victoria said astonished "Is the rest of the team normal?"

"No, but that is up to them to tell you or you to figure out. Whatever, happens first."

"Now that's just mean."

"It's not my place to tell you,"

"Alright, I get it."

"Come on, your mother saw you when I brought you in, she is probably still in shock. And then we can explain everything." Leon said, Victoria nodded and hopped off the bed grabbing Leon's hand and pulling him with her. Helena was waiting at the bottom of the stairs her face still an ashen color.

"Victoria! Thank god you are alright." Helena pulled her daughter into her arms and squeezed tight.

"Mom, I won't be alright anymore if you keep squeezing this tight." Helena pulled back and glared at her daughter.

"Don't you be talking to your mother like that; not after taking twenty years off my life. You were half dead on that kitchen table and twenty minutes later you hadn't a scratch on you." Helena turned her glare to Leon. "You have a **_lot_** of explaining to do mister."

"Is Sheva awake?" Leon asked.

"Yes, she is in the living room with the others, waiting for Victoria to wake up." Leon nodded and led the way into the living room where the others waited.

"Sheva, you okay?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, just a little exhausted." Sheva answered taking a sip of hot chocolate that Helena made her. The chocolate is a quick booster after using energy like that.

"So, will we getting an explanation?" Helena asked.

"Mom!" Victoria exclaimed, astounded by her mother's abruptness.

"No, it's fine. It is perfectly understandable." Sheva said. "Victoria, when you were attacked by the cougar, you would not have survived had I not stepped in. My father is a very powerful Shaman. He passed on his gift and knowledge to me. It was with Shaman Magic that you were healed completely. Although use of such magic does not come without toll, it take a substantial amount of energy to support the magic and if used too much may kill me."

"Thank you." Victoria said. "For healing me and risking yourself.

Leon then stepped up and gave a similar explanation he gave Victoria to her mother. Then Carlos stepped forward and started into his own history.

"I am what one would call a Were-wolf, although the family prefers the term skin-walkers or Lycan much better. My grandfather is Diné, or Navajo. It is from his blood line that myself and three siblings are Skin-walkers. No, silver doesn't kill me right away but prolonged exposure would, think of it as highly allergic reaction. I do have control over my wolf, and I can transform at will, but I must be in my wolf form once a month for a full night and day."

"Can we see?" Victoria asked.

Carlos nodded "There are two wolf forms, full wolf and half wolf half man. Which would you like to see?"

"Whichever is easiest." Carlos grunted and gave a short yell as his skin seems to rip and vanish into thin air. It was over quickly and a half man and half beast stood before them. "Sweet." A loud thump was heard behind Victoria, who turned to see her mother crumpled on the floor. "Uh-oh." Carlos walked over to her unconscious mother and picked her up setting her in a blue love seat, while Victoria walked into the kitchen to grab some ice for her mother's head. While grabbing some Ice she saw a couple of frozen pizzas and decided to throw them in the oven for dinner. Walking back into the living room, Victoria saw that her mother was once again awake and she handed her the cloth filled with ice. Carlos, still furry, whined in apology.

"I'm sorry Carlos, it was simply a surprise." Helena smiled. Carlos had a doggy grin as he leaned forward to brush his muzzle against Helena's cheek. Helena let out a girlish giggle as she scratched his right ear. A soft thudding was heard as Carlos's tail hit the hard wood floor, causing everyone to laugh. Carlos stepped back and the transformation back into his human form was as quick. Instead of a furry Carlos, there was an almost naked one standing in the middle of the living room. Victoria laughed and tossed him a throw to make himself more appropriate, not wanting Annabelle to see an almost naked man.

"I guess I will be taking my leave now, I will be back shortly with more clothing on." Carlos bowed out of the room heading to the one he was staying in. Carlos stepped forward to explain his family history.

"Now, what I am about to tell you not even my sister knows. The males in the Redfield family are a part of an organization known as the Hunters. It is comprised of at least one gender of each family, such as the females of the Crofts, or the males of the Waynes. Each family has their own special ability, the Redfield's abilities lie with the mind. We can influence anyone, read people's minds, and create and erase memories. We swear an oath to not to use them for personal gain. It isn't worth it in my opinion. It takes a lot of energy to enter someone's mind; I can't do anything but focus on what I am doing. The longer I am in their mind the more I risk damage to myself or them. Frankly, there are some minds, I wished I never entered and never have to again."

"Your sister….who has been my friend for the last two years." Victoria said. "Who, probably hasn't seen you in longer." Chris got a sheepish look, at the dressing down he was getting. "You know that she loves and cares for you and doesn't want anything to happen to you. And you keep her in the dark, which in turn causes her to go looking for you to make sure your ass is fine." Victoria frowned at him, making him feel worse. "You know how many times I've caught her looking at the news with tears in her eyes, looking for some hint of what you are doing, where you are."

"No." Chris said softly.

"A damn lot. And you don't have to tell her every detail. But send her a stupid letter." Victoria hated being mean, like this; but she hated worse what watching her friend be strong every day, knowing she was worried for her oaf of an older brother who had this caveman mentality. "She worries about you; you are all the family she has left. Now she is probably in the barn putting up the horses, I might suggest you go have a brother-sister talk with her." Chris's face was set hard, knowing she was right; but hated it at the same time. He stood up and walked out to the barn. Victoria sighed and hoped she didn't fuck up right there, but she didn't regret it.

"My turn I guess." Jill stood up and took a deep breath. "You may remember that in the third game, I was infected. Now the resident evil movies are not too far off with the idea of the T-virus bonding with someone under the right circumstances. While the whole physic abilities is bogus, well so far. But the chance of someone becoming stronger, faster, better is possible. This is known because The T-virus bonded with me. It has slowed down my aging, strengthened my muscular structure, making me superhuman."

"That must be rough." Victoria said as she got up and hugged Jill. Who was surprised, people believe it is only a good thing that she is now more than human. Not many have seen how the idea that she is no longer normal or human bothered her some.

"Thank you," Jill hugged back. "I have come to accept this fact and am thankful that I have people I love that will last with me, and I won't out live them." The door opened and an excited Annabelle entered the house with the dogs at her tail. "Mama, Mama, look, look. I found this pretty rock." The little girl ran to her mother and hopped into her lap, showing her the shiny green stone.

"Wow that is so pretty, maybe we can add it to your rock collection." Helena smiled as she hugged her little girl.

"What's this, peanut? I, your most amazing, and bestest sister, does not get a hug?" Victoria asked, exaggerating her supposed hurt.

"Kitty!" the little girl squealed as she jumped from her mother's lap into Victoria's arms. Victoria gave an evil laugh as she start to tickle Annabelle's belly. "Stop it, it tickles."

"Argh, that's what you get for falling into the trap of the…The Tickle Monster…Argh." Annabel squealed as she wiggled away from Victoria and ran behind the legs of a man who just walked into the door.

"Well, who is this hiding behind my legs, is it my dinner?" the man said as he picked her up into his arms and brought her to his face and pretended to chew on her shoulder.

"Puppy!" she giggled. "I'm not dinner." The man smiled and set her down.

"Dinner! Oh no, I forgot to make dinner." Helena rested her head in her hands, cursing herself for being so absent minded.

"Don't worry mama, I got it. I put pizzas in the oven. They should be done by now." A ding from the kitchen indicated that the pizzas were indeed done.

"Oh, thank you, hon." Helena kissed her daughter on the cheek and went into the kitchen to pull out the pizzas.

"Luis is it good to see you again, how was your mission?" Victoria asked stepping up to him to give him a hug.

"Now darlin', y'know I can't tell ya that." Luis said with an exaggerated southern drawl, he smiled and his blue eyes twinkled. "It's top secret." Victoria laughed and pulled him along into the living room leaving the others behind.

"Puppy? Kitty?" Jill commented, looking at the two. Victoria she could see being called Kitty, but the man was huge, and rough looking, with his long messy black hair, scruff and piercing green eyes. He, in no way, looked remotely close to a puppy.

"She calls me Kitty because I like to climb things and once or twice I may have gotten stuck in a tree when I was younger."

"Make that four times, twice we had to call the fire department." Luis teased.

"Hey, I was 12 and I was still learning to climb." Victoria said defensively.

"Okay what about Luis why does Annabelle call him puppy" Sheva asked.

"His nickname is Mad Dog among his teammates."

"Luis works for the Navy SEALS, just like his father used to." Helena said coming up from behind them with a couple of different kind of pizzas in her hands. Walking past them she yelled out to Victoria and Luis. "You two, better not be trying to skip out on helping me set the table!"

"Never dream of such a thing Mama." Victoria yelled out as she raced from the living room into the kitchen to grab plates and utensils. Luis followed laughing and grabbed the glass cups. Once the table was set, everyone sat down at the large dining table.

"I hope you don't mind waiting, Mark and Trinity should be here soon, they called a couple hours ago saying they were on their way." Helena told them.

"It is perfectly fine, we are in no rush." Carlos told her. Minutes passed before the dogs barked at the door, letting everyone know that someone has pulled up. Helena stood as she walked to the door to greet the new arrivals.

"Mark, Trini, Glad you arrived safely. Dinner is on the table."

"Thank you for waiting." Mark told her and kissed her on the cheek.

"It was no problem, dear; I just set out dinner minutes ago." Helena led the way into the dining room, where the two new arrivals sat down in the empty chairs left for them. Dinner was relatively normal and delicious. Everyone had their fill and moved to the living room with drinks.

"So have you six gotten acquainted?" Mark asked them.

"Yes, sir." Chris said

"That is good," Mark said as he sipped from his glass of whiskey. "Your first mission is in South America, there is a drug lord that has obtained a drug that seems to have similar effects of the t-virus."

"Where in Brazil?" Victoria asked, mentally going through all her Brazilian contacts.

"Some small town in Brazil called Anori." Mark told her. "You will fly into Manaus and stay there for a couple days gathering intel, before you head towards Anori."

"Ah, I'll give Becca a call; she should be there if she's back from her backpacking trip in the Amazon. She could house us in Manaus for as long as we need." Victoria said finishing her spiced rum. "And Rejinaldo still works as a guide out of Manaus, so I'm pretty sure that he will be willing to help us." She then yawned and stretched. "Well, I'm hitting the hay; it's been a long day for me."

"Good idea, it's going to be an early day for me tomorrow, I have to get breakfast ready for the group that is coming back in the morning." Helena said. "And you young missy, its way past your bed time." Helena picked up the weakly protesting Annabelle.

"Hey, let me put her to bed." Victoria said holding out her hands. Helena smiled as she nodded and handed over the tired girl. "Come on Snicker-doodle, beddy bye time. Goodnight y'all." The night slowly wound down for the rest as each one drifted off to their respected rooms for the night.

* * *

Well, What do you think. They are not human, how could the be if they survived what they did. :) but the are not over powerful or invincible, they are just extraordinary.

Next Chapter, they are off to Brazil, oh what fun lies there. ;P


	6. Brazil

Hey all, here is another installment, sorry for the wait, just wanted to make sure I have enough content to keep going and not have to change anything. Thank you to:Shinn Asuka- Destiny's Warrior ,

kkLittleRed,

and my guest for reviewing,

I loved reading my reviews for this story so glad you enjoy the concept of each RE Character not being human completely. you've got to wonder that through out the games, when you are playing, like "how can a normal human being preform such feats."

and a Thanks to :

BioticShadow

Eleanor Lancaster

IZINA015

MercenaryBunny

MoonChild2308

kkLittleRed

ninja-of-twilight

raven1986

22wolfgirl

He4artBreaker101

Katara Melody Cullen

TalkOrWalk

pan94

for Following and/or Favoriting the story, sorry for not thanking you before hand, but I am now. :)

Now, On to the Story:

* * *

Early the next morning, Helena was first up before the crack of dawn to start the morning chores with the handlers that lived on the ranch. Victoria and Luis were up next to go start their run together. Both liked to race each other through the trails. As the sun rose, more started to wake up and start their day. The guys found the gym and started to work out, while Sheva and Jill went out to help with the chores. Annabelle was woken up later on by Trinity, who helped Annabelle get ready for Kindergarten.

Around nine, Victoria and Luis were coming back from their run, just as the riders were getting back. The young men, who were hitting on Victoria the day before, wolf-whistled at her as she ran past; Luis who was right behind her gave them a cold glare that sent shivers down their spine as he ran past. Victoria reached the house first; she stopped to do her little victory dance after she touched the door.

"Oh yeah, second time in two days, I am the victor."

"You know I just let you win." Luis said out of breath.

"Oh don't give me that bull; you know you were slowing down towards the end. Wait until the guys hear that you lost to a girl, they will tease you mercilessly."

"Yeah, until I tell them it was you."

"You two are still at those childish games, you are grown adults, and you should be setting a better example for your little sister." Helena said behind the screen door mixing a bowl of eggs.

"You wouldn't have us any other way." Victoria smiled.

"Yeah, you love us too much to change us." Luis added in.

"What will I do with you two, now come inside and shower, you two are sweaty and disgusting." Helena opened the door for them and then headed back into the kitchen to finish breakfast. Just as she was finished with breakfast the group came in, hungry and ready to eat. Then came in the handlers after finishing the morning chores, and finally Victoria and everyone else came down showered and refreshed.

After breakfast, Victoria went to her room to pack for the trip, and made some phone calls to people she knew in Brazil. Calling Becca first she waited on her phone for the other girl to answer.

"_This is Scarlett_." A soft feminine voice answered the phone.

"So this is your new identity, sounds like a hooker's name." Victoria laughed.

_"Oh, Victoria, Hey."_ The smile was heard in the other woman's tone. "_And no dear, Cherry, is a hooker's name. Scarlett is an heiress's name_." Both women laugh, happy to be talking to one another.

"So what's with this new identity?" Victoria asked.

"_Oh, Celest got into some trouble. A bit of a psychotic issue to be exact. . . ."_ Becca sighed.

"Isn't that your Russian cover?"

_"Yeah it is, put it this way, a guy I went on a date with got bitten by this mindless psychopath and lost a bit of flesh._" Becca grumbled. _"That dumb ass psycho was high off his ass on that new drug. But, anyway, somebody saw me and recognized me as Damia, so I had to leave Russia_."

"Now you are Scarlett, the prized heiress of some high end corporation, looking to..."

_"Ensure customer satisfaction through our cosmetics_"

"Right, and my sister's the Whore of Babylon dancing the hoochie-coochie in a long white veil." Victoria said with obvious disbelief.

"_I wouldn't have guessed. . . .Anyway, where are you now?"_

"Home, mama is happy to see me again." Victoria answered.

"_How is Mama C?"_ Becca asked.

"Good, and Annabelle is growing up so fast." Victoria laughed, "Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because In a couple days I'm heading to Brazil with a whole troop. And I was wondering if you would be willing to house us and open up the connections you have to us. To sweeten the deal for you, there is a very sexy Native American Latino who would defiantly put your panties in a twist."

"Really?" Becca asked _"Sexy, eh?"_

"Oh yes, yummy beyond belief." Victoria laughed. "So? What do you say?"

_"I say yes_"

"Good" Victoria smiled. "I'll see you in a couple days." She hung up, and finished packing and went downstairs to put her stuff in the sitting room where everyone else's things were, she saw that Luis's team was at the table getting some breakfast as well. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

"Wild Cat!" The guys yelled as the all got up to give her hugs.

"We heard you're going off on a mission." Doc said, Doc was the team medic his real name was Cameron Banyaski, he was small in height, but wasn't by any means weak.

"I am."

"Well, we were going to wait until your birthday to give this too you, but I think you need it more now." Trap smiled, his real name was Tom Cohen and he was the team's explosive expert known for his eccentric booby traps.

"I know you've had your eye on the new .408 Cheytac Intervention, and, I managed to get my hands on it, and make some modifications for you." Tex grinned, he was a rich boy from the lone star state, hence the nickname. His real name is Jack Fellows, and he was the team's weapon's expert. He had a hand in making all of the team's weapons; even Victoria's as well, since she was his favorite sister who isn't related by blood. He held out a highly modified CHEYTAC out for Victoria to grab and look over.

"Like?"

"Hell yes!" Victoria looked like a little kid opening her first Christmas present.

"Well this baby has a much more powerful scope, night vision, infrared; there is a mechanism that enables you to fire different caliber of bullets. It's also lighter than the original and can be broken down to a smaller form for easy travel." He pointed to each thing as he mentioned them. Victoria's face lit up like a child at Christmas time.

"Oh how you spoil me so"

"And we are taking it to the Yard and give it a couple test runs." Luke told her, the Yard was their training ground that the family and close family friends use. It had a fully decked out obstacle course built for Navy SEALS and a gun range. It was originally built by Mark and Kain, Victoria's Father, back in their SEAL days in order to keep in shape even when they were on vacation. The obstacle course also became one of Victoria's favorite hangouts as a kid, at first it caused many trips to the hospital –a running joke was that she had an honorary bed just for her, she was even on first name basis with the doctors and gets cards form them as well.

"Are you taking the horses or the machines?" Helena asked.

"We'll take the machines we will be making a lot of noise and not all the horses are comfortable around that." Luis said as he started to pack some pre made sandwiches and other food into a bag for them. Jill and Sheva came in after finishing with the morning chores, and saw the new group of men.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Jill, Sheva, this is my brother's team, they came in early this morning to give me a little gift." Victoria brought both women over to the group and introduced them individually. "And here is the little gift they gave me" Victoria showed them her CHEYTAC and all the little gadgets that went with it. "And we are going to an area where we can test it out, want to come?"

"Sure, what about the guys do you want them to come?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to go get changed into some sensible clothing for rolling around in the dirt. Then we will head out." Victoria glanced at them, noting there dirty clothes. "And I assume you wish do the same."

"You got it," Sheva said, and all three women went upstairs.

Down stairs the guys were chatting and getting ready for their outing, packing up food for the group.

"Y'all ready? We should have enough machines to get everyone there in one trip." Luis said.

"There is a storage shed where we store our range guns, so there is a range of guns to shoot." Victoria informed them, as she strapped her rifle to her back as they headed out of the house. "or you can try the O-course if you wish."

"I think I will try my hand at this obstacle coursed you have been talking about." Carlos smiled.

"I'll race you." Doc grinned "no one can beat my record, not even Victoria."

"That is because you are closer to the ground." Victoria pouted. "You have a shorter distance to drop."

"Keep telling yourself that." Tex smiled, "Even some of the instructors at BUDs had trouble keeping up with him." They walked over to the shed where the machines were kept, there were 4 dirt bikes, 2 quads, and a dune buggy in the shed. Victoria stepped up to a bright blue dirt bike. Placing on the matching helmet, she mounted the bike and revved it up. Throwing up a quick peace sign, she popped her front wheel up and booked it out of the garage, leaving everyone else standing around.

"Jill, Chris, why don't you two take the buggy," Luis suggested tossing Chris the keys. "Just head out onto that trail, and it will lead directly to the Yard." The two hopped in the buggy and drove out of the shed doing doughnuts before heading down the trail at full speed. "Tex, Doc, double up, and take the quads."

"How about it darling?" Tex grinned at Sheva holding out a helmet to her. "Wanna take a ride with the biggest baddest Texan in the west?"

"I don't know about the biggest and baddest part but yes I will ride with you Tex." Sheva laughed at his put out expression. She took the helmet and strapped it on. She climbed on the back of the quad and held on as he sped out of the garage. Meanwhile, Doc turns to Trap and tosses him the keys to the second quad.

"It's your turn to drive." Doc smiled as they got on the quad and followed Tex out of there.

"The rest of us have what's left." Luis said as he tossed Leon and Carlos the keys to the dirt bikes. They strapped on the helmets and took off down the trail. At the end of the trail there was a large o-course that put most to shame. Further past the course Tex and Victoria was setting up her new rifle and Doc was opening up the weapons shed and grabbing out random firearms and ammunition.

Until the sun set that night, they were out there shooting, competing against one another, and trading techniques. Victoria learned her new rifle well; Tex drilled every aspect, every nuance of the weapon into her head. They packed it up early and headed to bed. Tomorrow is when the team leaves for Reagan National Airport to head to South America.

Early next morning, Jill was going around to everyone making sure they were packed and ready to go. Carlos was throwing in some last minute underwear into his overnight back. Leon was disassembling their weapons and securing them in locked cases to be stored in the cargo area of the plane. Sheva was spending time with Trini in the kitchen making breakfast with the younger woman. Chris was going over last minute details with the General in the living room. She smiled and waved at him when he looked up, but then frowned when she couldn't find Victoria.

"She's out in the pasture." Helena said from behind Jill. Jill startled turned and faced the other woman.

"How did…"

"It's a habit for her; the morning she leaves for a mission she goes to the pasture to spend time with Gabriel." Jill nodded and thanked Helena before turning and heading outside. Walking towards the pasture she looked up and saw Victoria galloping bareback through the fields. The peaceful look on her face brought a pensive one to Jill's. Jill had come to respect and like the younger woman very much, and this mission will change her. Jill can only hope that this mission doesn't destroy the fun-loving young woman before her.

_Honk! Honk!_ The cars at Reagan National Airport impatiently let the people around them know their aggravation as they waited to drop off their loved ones. A large white van pulled up into the drop off area, the team cramped from sitting in the enclosed space for more than a few hours due to D.C. traffic, groaned as they stepped out of the vehicle and walked to the back and grabbed their carryon bags and their baggage from the van and deposited it on the side walk next to the outdoor check in. Carlos and Sheva stood by it and checked the baggage while Victoria said her good-byes to the General and Trini.

"I'll miss you both and everyone else. I'll call when I can and send gifts as well." Victoria said as she hugged Trini.

"Be safe, and don't do anything too stupid." Trini smiled as she squeezed Victoria one last time before letting go.

"Me, do something stupid, never" Victoria laughed as she gave a hug to the General and left to follow the others into the terminal. The group traveled in light and airy clothing because of the humidity. They headed down the international terminal and found their gate. Noticing that they had an hour before they boarded, Victoria went to go grab a chai latte and a breakfast sandwich from the nearby coffee shop. Jill noticed and followed, wanting to speak with the younger girl.

"Victoria." Jill called Victoria looked up from the glass of the window display in the shop.

"Yeah?"

"I want to talk to you about Blackburn." Jill saw how the carefree look fade from the younger woman's face, replaced with a harder, colder expression.

"What about him." Jill sighed and knew that this would not be a fun or comfortable conversation, but it was something to be done. Victoria's attention was diverted for a second as she gave the barista her order, then motioned for Jill to get what she wanted.

"Look, why don't we go sit down at one of these tables and talk. He will be here within the hour and I want to get something straightened out before then." Jill said as Victoria paid, then led the way to a more private table towards the back.

"What do you want straightened out?"

"Well, I need to know if the history between you two will hinder our mission." Jill said bluntly

"You don't dilly dally do you. " Victoria sighed. "I can't predict the future; if I did high school would have gone a lot differently for me. What I can tell you that the mission will take precedence. When it is time to lock up and shut up, it won't matter. But, god forbid, he open his mouth at any other time." Victoria's hand clenched then released; her body language showing for her distaste of the man. "Look there is more to the story than I have said. He used to go to school with me. I knew what kind of guy he was when he dated Trini. I told her but he had her so wrapped around him that it caused a big rift between us for a good year and a half. She wouldn't speak to me at all, and I had to sit back and watch as he ripped her apart. That man is good with his words; he can twist them around so god damn good that you will be tied up trying to understand what you were trying to say in the first place. And he uses any advantage he can get his slimy little fingers on."

Jill sat patiently listening to Victoria's explanation. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. She could see where the younger woman was coming from, but she can't let that cause a rift in the team. "I don't know what to tell you but, you will have to deal with working with him." Victoria opened her mouth to interrupt but Jill held up her hand to stop the other woman. "But, from what he sounds like, he will be a trial to deal with. And I assure you that if he causes problems he will be out; but the same goes for you. If you obstruct our mission, you are gone. We don't need any more problems than we already have. Is that understood?" Victoria bit her lip and looked into her chai latte before looking Jill square in the eyes and nodded.

"I understand, and It will not come to that."

"I know it won't but I have to say it any way." Jill gave Victoria a friendly smile, which she reciprocated. "Come on let's get back to the others."

"Hold on." Victoria said and ordered a dozen breakfast pastries for everyone else. "Okay lets head back." The sort walk the two talked about Brazil and who Victoria knew there.

"Becca is a very good friend, crazy as hell, but loyal as a hell hound." Victoria told Jill as they came up to the group. Seeing that Blackburn was there she shut up and walked over to where Sheva and Carlos were sitting a good twenty feet from the other man.

Another hour passed before the plane arrived. Victoria mostly spoke to Sheva and Carlos to pass the time by, when they were called to board the group stood up and headed onto the plane. Victoria's seat was in between Carlos and Leon, with Carlos taking the window seat looking out at the wing and Leon taking the aisle seat. Blackburn, Chris, and Jill were sitting across the aisle; Blackburn taking the window seat and Jill the outside. Sheva was sitting behind Jill with two random people sitting next to her. Soon enough the plane started to taxi as the flight attendants gave their spiel about airplane safety. Victoria looked around at her teammates, Leon pulled out the tenth book of War and Peace, and Carlos was reading a newspaper from Brazil, Jill was reading a Diana Palmer book (one over Victoria's favorite authors), Sheva was playing Sudoku, Chris and Blackburn looked to be getting some sleep. The flight attendants had finished their spiel and the plane was ready to take off. Victoria started to take deep breaths, and closed her eyes. Carlos looked over at her curiously; he asked what she was doing.

"I'm trying to relax; I hate the feeling of take off; love landing, but I hate take off." Victoria answered him "I'll take running on the ledge of a twenty story building any day over the feeling of take off." Carlos smiled at her quirky behavior; his youngest sister hated flying as well. She always needed at least two of her older brothers next to her, to hold her hand the whole time.

"Here" Carlos held out his hand for her to grab. "My sister hates flying, but says that holding someone's hand helps." Victoria gave him a grateful smile as she placed her smaller hand in his, and continued to take deep breaths. The plane was speeding up and Victoria's grip got stronger, her eyes were screwed shut as the plane left the ground. Victoria started to relax, believing the worst over. But the plane hit a small pocket of air causing the plane to drop some, Victoria's hand tightened on Carlos's and her other shot to the arm rest. Another hand covered the hand on the arm rest. Victoria looked up and saw Leon still reading his book, but his left hand was now covering her right. She closed her eyes tight again as the plane hit some turbulence.

"Everything is fine, nothing will happen to you." A deep husky voice whispered in her ear. She turned to find Leon's face inches from her own. His deep blue locked with her own, Victoria felt her cheeks heating up. She offered him a small smile as the plane leveled out at the captain announced that it was safe to used electronics. Victoria released both of their hands and thanked them both before pulling out her Iphone and put in her ear buds to listen to music. Soon she fell asleep leaning against Leon's shoulder. The plane ride was a long one and eventually most of the passengers fell asleep.

The team was to fly into Belém, then from there take a bush plane into Santarém, where they will board a boat to Manaus. The trip was very long and Brazilian customs was a pain to get through. The team gathered their stuff and continued their journey. Victoria managed to get a phone call to Becca and made sure the place was ready for a very tired and jetlagged group. The bush plane looked ready to fall apart, Victoria wondered if the duck tape holding the roof of the cockpit was going to hold, she gladly let Chris take the co-pilot seat.

Victoria was shaking the whole ride. Leon, who was sitting next to her, had one arm over her shoulders pulled her into him, singing softly to her. Victoria was surprised by his singing; he possessed a sinfully deep voice and it was comforting to hear. She managed to relax enough to stop shaking when the top of the plane that had been held together with the duck tape had flown off. Luckily enough they had just reached Santarém, and quickly landed the plane. The team made it safe but far from sound. Jill and Sheva had an arm around Victoria as she collected herself. Victoria announced that she will never step foot on another bush plane again.

It took the team a half hour to locate where there boat was on the populated docks in Santarém. The boat they rented was a decent sized river boat, one that they would fit comfortably in for the next six to seven hours. They loaded everything on the boat and departed for Manaus. Jill, Victoria, and Sheva changed from their travel clothes into shorts and bikinis to deal with the humidity.

"Oh my, that is gorgeous." Sheva said when she saw the tattoo on Victoria's back. Jill looked over and saw a stunning work of art tattoo's to Victoria's back. The Tattoo had at the top of her back 'No Regrets Only Lessons' on either side of a red cactus flower, below that was a gorgeous phoenix that rose from a flame that just rested above Victoria's bottom. On both sides of the flame were red flowers bunched together with the middle faded out and 'Endure' written in one bunch and 'Survive' in the other. The back ground of the tattoo was water, the bright blue contrasted perfectly with the red of the flowers and the orange-yellow of the flame and phoenix.

"Thanks" Victoria blushed. "I designed it, and a friend back in the states did it for a good price. I got this after a botched mission where I lost four good men." Victoria got a faraway look in her eyes as the memories surfaced. "You know what the worst of it is. I can't even remember how they died." Victoria looked at the older women and gave them a sad smile. "I can't remember a lick of what happened that night, but I know it's in my head. I have nightmares, nightmares that when I wake up, I can't remember anything about them." Jill walked over to the younger woman and gave her a hug.

"I know how you feel," Jill told her. "The Mansion gave me nightmares for days afterward and the city for years." Pulling away Jill gave a smile to Victoria. "So, if you need to talk about it, you can always come to me." Victoria gave her a bright smile back and thanked Jill for the kind words.

"And you can also come to me; I dealt with the same thing after Kijuju." Sheva added in. The three women put on sun block and bug spray before heading out on deck. They noticed that the boys had also taken the time to change as well and now were sporting shorts and short sleeve shirts. Carlos had on an open bright orange Hawaiian shirt with nothing underneath, and was fishing off the back of the boat. Victoria walked over and sat down next to the Latino-Native American.

"What's bitin'" Victoria asked.

"Nothing right now." Carlos stretched before reeling in the line and casting out again. "Nice tat', by the way." He commented when he noticed it.

"Thanks, and I would be careful, you may hook a crocodile. Now that would be a funny story." Victoria laughed. "what are you fishing for anyway?"

"I don't know really, I was just bored and picked up a fishing pole. I have not fished in a while, not since me and my two younger brothers when camping last June." Carlos explained they settled into a comfortable silence as he reeled and cast the line.

"What is your family like?" Victoria asked out of the blue.

"Eh?" Carlos was caught off guard by the random question. "Like any other family I suppose." He rubbed his chin as he thought about his family back home. "My family is pretty close; my parents are still married and off on some cruise for older folks. They still like to try and fit in with the younger crowd, it used to embarrass me beyond belief when I was younger."

"Oh I know right, sometimes when mom tries to be hip n' all I just cringe, but I won't have her any other way." Victoria smiled.

"Nor can I. I have three siblings who are younger, two brothers and a sister." Carlos smiled fondly remembering his siblings. "I don't know what I would do without them. Don't get me wrong, we have our fights but we are always there for one another. It has been awhile since I have run with them, I miss it. I also have my grandfather, who passed on the lycanthropy to me and my siblings. He is my dad's father; many look to him for wisdom or just a willing ear. He is a well respected elder and at eighty-three he is still going strong. I also have aunts and uncles on both sides that are always coming around and make life interesting." Carlos laughed and smiled remembering his family's antics. "They are loco, but I love them."

"That is great. It's the same with mine, you never know what is going to happen next but you love them either way." Victoria said as she looked off in the distance. Noticing some crocodiles wading into the river she warned Carlos about his line.

"Ah, that will never happen." He laughed until his line jerked and he started to reel in his prize only for the fishing pole to be jerked out of his hands into the river. The look on his face was priceless and Victoria was in tears laughing so hard. Twenty feet behind the boat a crocodile surfaced with the fishing pole in its mouth before it snapped it in half.

"I…told….you so." Victoria laughed out.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Carlos stood and left the young woman laughing on the deck.

"Oh that was good." She said when she finished laughing at the misfortunate event, standing up she made it to where Jill and Sheva were sun bathing and joined them. They laid there talking about random things until the sun started to die. The smell of fish cooking drew their attention to where the crew was cooking dinner, which had been caught earlier in the day. The crew had out a large table set for dinner. The hanging lights and tiki-torches lit up the eating area well enough. Carlos, Chris, Leon and Blackburn were already seated at the table with a beer in hand.

"Where did you disappear off to?" Jill asked Chris as she stepped behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Catching up on sleep, god knows how much we will get once we get to Anori." Chris told her. She looked at Leon who was still engrossed in his book, and raised an eyebrow. "He has had his nose in that book the whole time." Chris answered her.

"I have only seven more books until I am done," Leon spoke.

"He has been reading those books on and off for years." Carlos said as he handed Leon and open beer.

"Ugh," Victoria made a face at the beer. "I really don't know how you guys can stomach the stuff. Mario!" She called out to one of the hands on the ship. "_Um pouco de abre-coração, por favor_." She handed the boy some Real, Brazil's currency, and he returned with a bottle of CaChaça, also known as Brazilian Rum made from fermented sugarcane juice. "Now, this is the good stuff." Victoria poured a shot's worth in the glass and shot it back before pouring a full glass, mixing it with some fruit juice.

The fish was served on platter in front of the group, who dug into the delicious meal. The group ate their fill then departed from the table, the ladies picked up the plates and headed into the kitchen and washed the plate; they waved off the crew members who insisted that the ladies did not need to do the dishes. Once finished they headed to where the crew had set up hammocks for the team. There were only five hammocks set up and four were occupied by Blackburn, Chris, Carlos, and Leon. Sheva took the unoccupied one and Jill slipped into Chris's hammock, leaving Victoria to choose between Blackburn, Carlos, and Leon. Blackburn was not an option, and Carlos was on the phone, so to give him privacy she slipped into Leon's hammock, who was still reading his book. "Move" she said as she slipped in and adjusted so his arm was around her, and her head was resting on his chest. He laid on his back and lifted the book to read over her head; Victoria snuggled and pulled out her phone and opened an e-book she was reading. They had around four more hours until they reached their destination. They all took the advantage of the rest time, because they never knew when they would get another.

Hours passed most of the team had fallen asleep. Leon laid awake after finishing his book, needing less sleep than a human would. He turned and saw that Carlos was still up, he was just looking up at the stars that shined brightly against the midnight sky. Leon felt the weight on his chest shift and looked down and saw Victoria shifting in her sleep, closer to him.

"You are different with her." Carlos said out of the blue.

"Hm?"

"You let her touch you; you don't do that with people you just meet, let alone a woman." The silence hung in the air.

"She isn't a stranger." Leon said after some time. "We've meet before."

"You have?"

"Yeah, Two years ago." Carlos looked toward Leon patiently waiting for the other man to continue talking. "You remember that solo mission I took in Rwanda, the American Embassy?" Carlos nodded his head. "She was there. She was assigned to investigate why the embassy had been out of contact for a couple weeks. There had been an outbreak of what looked to be a combination of Raccoon City and Spain. Her team had entered by helicopter, but it was hit by a rocket and she somehow survived. When I got there it was bad, no one was alive. I found her about to be killed by Andre Wesker."

"Who would have thought, Wesker and Excella would have a genetically engineered kid." Carlos interrupted. He never met Wesker or Excella personally but from what others had told him and the files the B.S.A.A. had on both individuals, he was glad he never had the displeasure. Very few have seen wha Andre Wesker looks like, only top B.S.A.A. agents know what he looks like. Wesker Jr. had appeared on the scene five years ago, but very little information has been gathered about him. The B.S.A.A. can only guess what his motives are.

"I know," Leon sighed. "The son of a bitch had her by the throat, and when he went to use her has a body shield, she gave him that scar." The scar, that ran from his left cheek across his face ending at his right temple. "She almost died, that night. Wesker Jr. tossed her into a wall after she cut him." Silence settled over them again.

"She called me her guardian angel." Leon said after some time. "After being attacked like that, she trusted me not to kill her."

"And you feel obligated to fill that role?" Carlos asked his friend.

"It was the way she looked at me, like she was okay with dying at that moment, as long as I was there." Leon sighed. "It was humbling."

"And she survived, but doesn't remember any of it." Carlos said.

"I don't think she consciously remembers it." Leon said, and at that moment, whimpering could be heard. He felt Victoria tighten and tense up in her sleep.

"Can you shut her up?" Blackburn growled from his hammock. Leon and Carlos glared at the other man while Leon put a hand comfortingly on her cheek, and pulled her closer.

"Quiet." Leon growled out, his growl was deeper and more animalistic, shocking the rude man. Victoria sighed in her sleep and relaxed once again into a deep sleep.

"I don't think that is the only thing she unconsciously remembers." Carlos said before he relaxed into slumber. Leon stayed up a little bit longer pondering Carlos's last words. It seemed that Carlos was right; there was a level of comfort between himself and Victoria that is inexplicably there. Leon decided not to question it for now and fell asleep.

* * *

So here it is, trying not to make my character a Mary sue, so please let me know if she is heading onto that path. I've been making sure to give her normal faults, so she isn't perfect, which will make her perfect. please let me know how you are enjoying this story, i hope its not going to be like the normal Resident evil stories you see on this site.

Love Crimson 3


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